South Melbourne pulled off a last minute win 1-0 extra time win over Bundoora United in their Women’s State Knockout Cup Quarter Final clash.
Both sides traded blows throughout the 120 minutes played, but in the end it all boiled down to Tiffany Eliadis’ goal direct from a corner kick in the dying seconds of the match.
Bundoora were left to wonder what could’ve been, having had a couple of efforts stopped on the line, while having a strong penalty shout early in the second period of extra time turned down.
There wasn’t much to write about in the opening 45 minutes, as the game somewhat resembled the tactical power struggle of a chess match.
Laura Spiranovic had the only significant chance, forcing Tori Snelleksz into a fine save after a powerful shot on a slight angle.
It wasn’t until after the hour mark where the game began to really pick up, and Enza Barilla was on the back post in the 63rd minute to volley a corner kick towards goal, but her effort was cleared off the line by a covering defender.
Kamilla Lille was the next to have an effort on goal, as the intensity began to rise, however Snelleksz blocked the shot, ensuring the scores remained deadlocked.
The two teams were trading periods of ascendency and South Melbourne finished off the second half strongest with Eliadis in the centre of it all.
First she missed a free header from a deep cross by Alison Baker, then made Snelleksz pull off another good stop with just two minutes of regulation time remaining.
The Bundoora ‘keeper was having a great afternoon and had to deny Eliadis again in the 94th minute, after Spiranovic had earlier spurned a good chance to open the scoring.
As it had been the whole match, the tide once again swung to Bundoora’s favour and they struck the crossbar just before the extra time break.
Jackie Vogt’s header rebounded off the bar and back into play, although there were protests from the Bundoora players that the ball had indeed crossed the line.
Straight from the changeover in extra time, Barilla made her way inside South Melbourne’s penalty area before being clattered by a defender.
The referee wasn’t convinced however and waved play to continue.
From then the momentum shifted to South.
It was end to end stuff with both teams desperate to avoid the dreaded penalty shootout, and Snelleksz would have been forgiven to think saving Eliadis’ shot in the 120th minute was enough to force the spot kick showdown.
But the South attacking midfielder had other ideas, and her sweetly struck corner flew over everyone and into the back at the net at the far post, to leave Bundoora crestfallen.
With three more quarter final ties to be played on Monday and Thursday night, South will be waiting in earnest to see who they will face in the Semi Final.
As for Bundoora, they’ll be looking to vent against Cairnlea in the Women’s Premier League next Saturday afternoon.
Lineups:
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Interchange:
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Match Events:
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